Day after SC bail, Delhi court orders verification of bail bonds of 4 Delhi riots accused

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday ordered verification of documents and sureties submitted by four of the five accused granted bail by the Supreme Court in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, leading to a delay in their release by a day.

The top court on Monday imposed 11 conditions while granting bail to activists Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad in the case.

Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai accepted the bail bonds of Rs 2 lakh each along with two local sureties of the like amount furnished by Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman and Mohd Saleem Khan, and directed the police to verify the documents by Wednesday.

The fifth accused, Shadab Ahmad, did not appear before the court to furnish his bail bonds.

While most of the accused had earlier been released on interim bail and had submitted surety bonds at that time, the court, in a rare order, directed verification of the bonds, leading to a delay in their release by a day.

Questioning the need for document verification, the counsel for Meeran Haider, M N Khan, argued that the person who submitted the surety bond is a relative of his client and lives in the same residence.

The court then listed the matter for further proceedings on January 7.

On Monday, the Supreme Court refused bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam but granted the same to the five other accused persons, citing “hierarchy of participation” and saying all the accused in the case do not stand on the same footing.

There was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria said.

The apex court, while granting bail, imposed certain conditions that said each of the accused must execute a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh with two local sureties of the like sum to the satisfaction of the trial court.

It also ordered them to remain within the National Capital Territory of Delhi and not leave its territorial limits without prior permission of the trial court.

Any travel request shall disclose reasons, and such prayer/request shall be considered by the trial court strictly on its merits, the bench said.

Additionally, the court ordered the five accused to surrender their passports and directed them to furnish their current residential addresses, contact numbers, and e-mail addresses to the investigating officer and the trial court.

The respective counsels for the accused moved an application before the court seeking three to four days to submit the details.

They submitted that the mobile phones of the accused had not been functional for a long period and assured the court that the details would be furnished once access is restored.

The court imposed another bail condition that the accused cannot directly or indirectly contact, influence, intimidate or attempt to contact any witness or any person connected to the proceedings, nor associate with or participate in the activities of any group or organisation linked to the present FIR.